FFB Blournal Week Two

January 14, 2019

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather yesterday and leveled the chicken house. Finally, after nearly three years of living here and more than six months of knowing it wasn’t level – we leveled it.
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And we reinforced it.The suspects (2 raccoons and a skunk) in the chicken house murder mystery from a few weeks ago were apprehended. But before they were taken into custody, they basically tore the hell out of the siding and door in a few places.
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It was fun to work together. Tripp got to use the hand saw for the first time. And that’s always rewarding to see your kids learn new skills. Rewarding and sometimes hard.
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It’s sometimes hard for me as a parent to watch my kids learn new things and actually let them finish without stepping in.
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I mean, he made it through two boards (mostly) by himself, but it wasn’t easy or swift by any stretch of the word. He was determined for sure. But he struggled.
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And it’s hard to watch my kids struggle to find their groove (literally in this case).
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It’s hard to not step in when I know if they did things just a little differently it would be faster, easier, less strenuous, less painful.
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I have to stop and remind myself that they have to learn and sometimes the only way to learn is by doing things the hard way, whether it’s using a saw or doing life.

January 15, 2019

So last week, I ordered a Camelbak water bottle for each of the big kids to take to school. They came yesterday. Mr. FFB gave them to Tripp and Ten this morning. I’m at my parents’ for a couple of days, but the text I got said “they were excited!”
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This isn’t the first time they’ve found excitement in something seemingly small. Heck – sometimes they’ve even found excitement in the straight up crappy. One such crappy occasion happened not all that long ago.
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The drive shaft on the side-by-side had broken. The cows were out of water because of a faulty windmill and a wife that isn’t great with directions. The fence was in disrepair. And Mr. FFB and I were unhappy (that’s putting it lightly). But the kids – their happiness was undeterred. They didn’t have clue anything was wrong. They were having fun, playing in the sand, exploring, and playing swords with dried up yucca stems.
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It always amazes me how they can find the wonder in everything and the joy in any situation. I mean, they don’t just find the happy in the crappy – they find genuine excitement in it all.
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I want to be more like that.

January 18, 2019

So, I wrote a thing yesterday – a thing maybe not everyone will agree with, but a thing everyone should at least give some careful consideration (my opinion obvi).
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If you’ve been around here long, you know how much I love these Sandhills. They’ve become my home. And just like anyone else, I will go to great lengths to protect my home. Which is why I had to write the thing.
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There’s been a lot of chatter lately about “going meatless to save the planet”. And, friends – that legit scares the bejeezus out of me.
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I mean, I understand the concern for the planet and I’m all about being more sustainable, but I also know the unintended consequences our environment would suffer should we all go meatless.
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I know that without cattle to graze here, my beloved Sandhills would become the barren wasteland they once were. I know that there would be a plethora of foodstuffs we can’t eat that would go to waste without cattle to turn them into something we can consume. And I know, that our environment would not be better off with out beef.
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I’m aware that you may not agree with me, and that’s okay, but if you’d like to read that thing I wrote click HERE. 

January 19, 2019

Do you guys choose a word (or phrase) of the year?
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I do.
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And this year my word is – consistency.
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The reasoning for my choice of word is that I’ve got big, huge, scary-to-say-out-loud goals for FFB this year. And I know full well that if I’m going to even have the slightest glimmer of a chance at reaching those goals, I’m going to have to be consistent. I’m going to have to do the little things with regularity if I want to achieve the big things.
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So, this year I am going to be consistent in daily prayer, devotion, being still and listening for His word. I will be consistent with my writing and creating. And I will consistently be where my feet are.
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It’s not going to be easy for my scatterbrain to be consistently consistent, but I’m going to keep plugging away and mastering each little thing until I get where I want to be.
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If you have a word (or phrase) of the year, drop it 👇🏻. Let’s help hold each other accountable!